No buyback of cars in India: Volkswagen Group India

Chennai, Jan 7 (IANS) German car maker Volkswagen said on Thursday that it will not buy back any car models as its models and others sold under SKODA and Audi brands do not violate the Indian emission norms.

A Volkswagen Group India official told IANS that it will not buy back any cars in India since the cars of brands Volkswagen, SKODA and Audi are not violating the Bharat Stage IV emission norms.

According to reports, Volkswagen is planning to buy back around 115,000 cars in the US where it is facing a legal case for installing it is diesel cars a “cheat device” or a software to cheat the emission control norms there.

The software was installed in diesel vehicles sold in the US between 2008 and 2015.

Last December, Volkswagen Group India announced announced a voluntary recall of all cars with EA 189 engines in India.

“Volkswagen Group India will implement technical updates in accordance with the timelines presented to the authorities,” it said in a statement issued on December 3.

“The 2.0-litre engines will get a software update. In the 1.5-litre and 1.6-litre engines, a ‘flow transformer’ will be fitted in front of the air mass sensor. In addition, a software update will also be performed on these engines. The measure for the 1.2-litre engines will be announced shortly,” the company said.

According to Volkswagen Group India, the first solutions are expected to be implemented from the first quarter of 2016 and will be continued in a step-wise manner.

However the company did not specify the exact or approximate date on which the upgrade process would begin.